Hope October had been an awesome month. I can't believe that 2012 is just 2 months away! OMG! Where did the 10 months gone! Gasp!!! Well, at least for me, it had been a good year back in Singapore and been with the family. Hope it has been good for you in some ways.
Well today I thought I will write about make ups, colours, brushes and some beauty tips that has worked for me. For a starter, I don't wear make up everyday. It just clogs up my face and makes it drier. My daily regime for my skin is a good mild daily facial scrub. I like Ginvera marvel gel with green tea ( seen in the picture below.)
Ginvera Marvel Gel with green tea . It can be purchased from Guardian or Watson's Pharmacy in Singapore and pretty much available all over Singapore & Malaysia. I have heard that even London has this product in its chemist. What I like about this product is that, it is a mild facial gel scrub (no beads). Just gently rub it on a wet face in a circular motion and you will instantly see it remove the dead skin, which is whitish small rolled up thread like. You can feel your skin freshen up instantly. Research has shown that Green Tea has more powerful antioxidants properties than vitamins A, C and E. What it means is that this ingredient is great for anti-bacterial, astringent and anti-ageing as well as UV protection qualities. I totally love this product. I use it on alternate days and my skin never dries out.
After the gentle scrub I always apply moisturiser. It is important that you apply moisturiser to retain the suppleness and hydrate the skin. Although there are several available in the beauty world I have found one that works for me very well. My take on moisturiser is don't go for the branded ones or recommended ones. Use the one that best works for you. It may take awhile for you to select a particular moisturiser but it is worth it. I remember my mother giving me an Olay facial moisturiser for me to try when I was a teenage girl. It was super oily on my face and yet, since my mom gave it to me, I stayed on with it thinking that is the best available, only till I started to break up and needed an instant change. I have gone through many sample bottles of every kind of moisturisers available in the pharmacies. But finally I have settled for the Bio-essence Bird's Nest Nutri Collagen & Whitening Moisturiser (See Picture below).
Just one pump of this moisturiser covers my face and neck. I love this. It is not oily and last long. As for any other benefits mentioned, like diminishing wrinkles and whitening the skin, well, I can't say it does diminish the wrinkles but I guess the suppleness of the facial skin and boosting of the collagen helps to slightly smoother wrinkles. As for whitening, nah...no products with whitening on it will make people whiter. Is it does, I guess 3/4 of the population in the world will be walking "whites"...LOL... But as for moisturising effect, this does a good job. I use this twice a day, once in the morning & night. I have T-zone oily face, so my cheeks are drier but this helps to even out my T-zone.
Apart from the above "musts" I also use Neutrogena Lip Balm to help smooth my often cracked lips. I never had cracked lips before I went to Australia. The winter there made my lips dry & cracked, which sometimes bleed. Since then I started using Neutrogena Lip Balm (Picture below) and it has helped. So since, I dab this on on my lips when ever I feel that my lips are getting drier.
When I do go out, I do apply my mineral powder, mascara, maybe eyeliner and some lip gloss. I had tried this mineral powder sample sizes (free) from Everyday Minerals. It is a website that actually allows you to choose a set of 5 mineral make up, whether it is blusher, eye shadow or face powder. So I gave it a try and got myself a set of 5. Applied it and loved it. It came in a small 1g jars (See picture) that had a "Try Me" on it.
To my surprise, It was wonderful. I have tried BYS Mineral face powder but some how this is the best. Just glides on smoothly and covers well, even without a corrector or concealer. Which I think is good, as my face can get a bit too sensitive if a dab on too many products on my face. Thus this Everyday Mineral face powder was great. I love it and the best part was, I can actually try a few shades to see which suits my skin tone best without having to spend on buying a few jars and mixing them up or having to buy lighter or darker shades to realise that they are not the right ones. With the sample sizes of the different shades, I was able to decide on the best two and now I am ready to order my full sized bottle. Furthermore, Everyday Minerals ships them fast and they do not force customers to buy extras that you may not need. Go and check out their website at http://www.everydayminerals.com/store/color/new-colors/glow-kit.html and go crazy....
Mascara is always more then enough to transform a dull make up into a glamorous one without much fuss on adding on the eye shadows and so on. So, when ever I am heading for grocery shopping or to the library or for simple afternoon coffee catch ups, I just add a dash of my mascara and my eye lit up instantly. I always have Maybelline's Great Lash. It is truly great. It gives depth and volume to the lashes. When applied, it is more then enough. There is no need for eye liner as the lashes are well defined and opens up the eye. Adding a eye liner only makes the out look more Gothic, unless that is what you wish to achieve.
It is simple and easy to use, no clog ups or mess ups. Very black and gives an instant lift up for any dull looking eyes. The other mascara that I use is Elizabeth Arden Ceramide Lash Extending Treatment Mascara.
Well, I tried this by accident. When I was at the Sydney International Airport Departure DFS shopping, I was informed by the salesgirl that I had two options of Elizabeth Arden's Mascara or Lip Gloss to buy at $10! I was like, wow! $10. Sure, why not. So I ended buying both the items and I don't regret the buy. I love both of them. The Mascara is not thick and it is smooth. Defines the lashes and separates them to give a fuller definition to the lashes. It has a demure elegance when tried on.
As for the lip gloss, Elizabeth Arden High Shine Lip Gloss, I choose, Berrylico. It glides smoothly and does not give a heavy glossed up look.
There are many shades to it. It is not that expensive either, given that Revlon & Maybelline do sell their lip gloss for almost the same amount. So give it a try.
The next item on my list is Body Shop's eyeliner.
I have been using this for the past 5 years and I am still very loyal to it. I always choose black, as that gives the right kind of definition to my eye. It is simple to use, the tip acts like a felt tip pen, so it is easy to glide on and dries moderately fast as well, so there is room for you to quickly dab out any unsightly mistakes with a Q tip. Although I want to try a gel eye liner, I would like to have some suggestions of any that you think is best and does not smudge.
Apart from the above, I do at times love to give my face some colour. So I always end up using eye shadows from Lakme. It has a range of rich earthy tones, dramatic beautiful deep colour sets and soft palette as well.
The above palette is the Peacock coloured palette. I have the Dessert Rose (seen below).
I always use my finger tips to apply my eye shadow, which allows me to blend as much ( meaning darker/richer colour of the shade) or less (meaning, a lighter colour of the shade). It is definitely smoother and the quarto eye shadow palette gives a nice blend of all the shades together for the eyes without having to look as if you had dabbed on many shades onto one eye lid.....
So, there you go. My simple make up or facial regiment that I normally use.
My advise is do not ever skip on moisturisers, even when you are at home. it prevents wrinkles and allows face to retain some form of hydration. Always chose a make up, brushes or products that you are comfortable with, not some one else cos, everyone is unique and thus, not all products works the same way for every individual. You have to definitely give a try to a few or many before deciding what is best for you. always go for samples. You can ask at the counters or even try getting samples from websites, blogs or articles that you read from magazines. they always have samples to spare and what more, you do not lose out.
Don't always go for the famous brands, although they do spend a lot of money on R&D to develop the best products, but there are a few out there which are featured in magazines and newspapers articles who use natural ingredients as a base ingredients for their products. These few have had their own share of problems with the common market brand goods and thus have spent R&D on how to eliminate theses problems and develop a saver product.
Last but not least, you do not have to stick with the same branded face care and facial products for yourself. you can mix & match the products individually that suits you best. For example, I use Ginvera, bio-essence, Neutrogena, Tea Tree Oil, Body Shop, Lakme and so on cos I found that selective individual products from these products works well for my skin and overall facial adaptation. So go for it and mix & match but be careful. Do it slowly, one item at a time. But beware, that, if you do have a very hyper sensitive skin, always consult a doctor and sample try on your arms before applying to your face.
So that's all from me...take care..
Huggies,
Mahesh
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